God vs Master
by Crimson Waterfall
Summary: DISCONTINUED Duo, bomb expert. Heero, The Master Of The Sword. They are two of the deadliest assassins in the world get a job, having to murder five men. Whoever kills three out of five walks away, 10 million dollar richer. AU slight 2x1
1. Chapter 1

**God vs Master**

**Prologue 1**

**The God of Death**

Through his night vision binoculars he watched the huge mansion at the end of the long driveway. Storm raged above his head as he lay in the wet high grass just outside the steel fence surrounding the entire property. He heard the buzz of the camera moving, but he had nothing to fear as he was well out of sight. He gazed at the window of the living room, the only room where light was burning and once in a while he could see men walking passed the window. He could only see vaguely, as the curtains had been closed about half an hour ago, as if the people inside the house, knew he was there. But they couldn't know. For this particular dangerous job he had been extra careful.

He followed another shadow walking past the window, stopping for a moment, hand on his hips. He moved his gaze to end of the driveway were six expensive black cars, no doubt bullet proof reinforced, were parked.

Eager to get moving his packed the binoculars into a bag strapped to the black belt around his waist. He stood up, plastering himself against the fence so that the camera's, that kept looking around, wouldn't spot him. He reached back and grabbed his two muted revolvers and took aim at the camera's. Both at the same time. He pulled the triggers and the camera's exploded, sparks flying around and small fires in what was left of the camera were quickly put out by the pouring rain. He quickly climbed over the fence and ran across the large lawn, running for cover. He hid himself between the bushes and packed his revolvers safely. Crawly though the dense foliage he finally reached the mansion and hid behind the cars, out of sight of the house. He went down on his stomach and crawled underneath the first car, in the centre he turned to lie on his back and pulled a small package out of his backpack and fastened it to the car, connecting some wires. He kneaded the plasticbomb a bit to make sure it had a secure fit and then went to the other cars, repeating his actions. Planting bombs under each and every one of them.

The job well done he climbed up on the garage that was connected to the house. He had taken a rope with him, but the tree growing tall next to the garage made it unneeded and within second he sat crouched on the roof. He jumped up and was able to grab the gutter of the mansion and pulled himself up and climbed up to the very top of the pointed roof. He head in the shadow, created by the moonlight, behind the chimney and stayed there for a while, listening to check if anyone had heard him. But all remained quiet. He looked at his watch, the green letter told him that he still had an hour to kill his targets. His client had given him forty-eight hours to complete the task, but he liked to wait till the very last moment. He liked to unnerve his clients as they were more nervous about him making the deadline then him.

Perfectly balanced he walked over the top of the roof to the other side of the mansion, the living room, where his targets were stationed, were now two stories beneath him and they didn't have a clue that the God of Death would come to them this night to claim their lives. Grinning, liking the idea of how he controlled life and death he head behind the second chimney. Surprised that the bodyguard in this mansion, that was ought to have good security, didn't hear his footsteps as he crossed the roof. He hadn't been really quiet.

He slide down the slippery roof till he reached a garret window. He grabbed a thin metal bar and picked the lock on the room. He opened the window as quiet as he could, waited for a few seconds and then jumped into the attic, guns drawn, ready to fire, but there was no one to shoot at. He reached up and closed the window behind him, even locking it so if someone decided to check the attic, there would be no proof that someone entered the house.

He tiptoed to the door, flinching as it creaked as he opened it. He hid behind the door in a shadowy corner, waiting for a guard to come up, but again, no one came to check. He was almost disappointed. This was supposed to be a dangerous job but he had missions tougher then this one. But he shouldn't complain, he got paid to deliver a good job and that was all he cared about.

He sneaked down the stairs and searched every room on the first floor. Door after door he found an empty, dark room, but before he opened the next he lay his ear against it, as he could swear he heard sounds coming from the room.

He was right, he could hear deep voices and guessed there were about three or four men and they were watching tv, laughing. No wonder no one had came up to check, they were watching a football matched and seemed absorbed into it. They didn't even notice when he opened the door to take a look inside. Indeed, four men, watching a small old tv like mindless zombies.

'Chilling on the job?'He asked teasingly.

Surprised, caught of guard the men stood and turned around quickly, reaching for their guns, but before they could the four of them had a bullet lodged between their ears.

He flinched as their heavy bodies fell down onto the floor and made a hell of a lot noise. He needed to be quick, before his target were getting suspicious and fled the scene.

He all but jumped down the stairs. Surprisingly not making all to hard sounds. He kicked down the door and immediately he could hear the actions rising in the living room. With a forward roll he entered the room, ending on his knees he pulled out his guns and fired at each moving object he spotted in the fuzziness of the moment as the familiar adrenaline started to flow through his veins, throbbing. He rolled again, as he heard someone load a gun behind him, he avoided some bullets but moaned as one grazed his arm. He didn't even aim he just kept pulling the trigger till he had no more bullets left. When he opened his eyes he could see the damage he had left on the furniture and the poor guard that even dared to shoot at him.

He scrambled up to his feet, slipping on the glass and broken china that lay on the floor, he heard footsteps leaving the living room into the large kitchen. He followed him, arriving into the kitchen just in time to see the door to the outside slam back shut again.

Groaning that this turned out to not only be boring but also annoy he followed his prey. He didn't even had the time to check the bodies lying on the carpet to see if it was one of his four targets or just a chickened-out-bodyguard.

He followed the figure through the rain in the darkness of the night, all around the house. He sped up his pace as he realised the man was heading for the cars parked on the driveway. He didn't want him to even almost escape. But as he rounded the last corner he was to late, he saw one of the black cars speeding of with screeching tires. Sighing he stopped running and threw his hands in the air.

'Fine! Have it your way!' He reached behind his back and fished a detonation switch from a small pocket on his belt. While walking away from the cars he waved the get-away-car goodbye as it stood at the gate, trying to open it. He pushed the red button of the black detonation switch and his amethyst eyes reflected the red and orange colours of the explosions. The sounds even overpowering that of the thunder roaring in the sky. The car was even airborne for a while when the bomb attached to the underside exploded.

He went back into the house and looked at the bloody men littering the floor. The man that almost escaped was nothing more then a bodyguard. But he was still right to kill him, he couldn't let an eyewitness get away, as he was pretty recognisable with his long brown hair in a braid and his amethyst eyes. He never wore a mask on the job as he wanted his victims to see his face, to remember it vividly as they went to either heaven or hell. Of course, most of his victims went to hell as almost all of them had connections with the Mafia or were other assassins someone needed to get rid of.

He raided the house, searching for anything of great value that would make this job even more worth while but it had just been a safehouse for the men. Making quick work out of it he was back in the garden within fifteen minutes. The spectacular explosion was bound to be noticed by someone around. He stood in the middle of the lawn for a while, not bothering with the many curious people who stood behind the window of the living room in the neighbouring houses. No way they could see him in the dark.

He creeped to the side and climbed back over the fence with ease and grace. He could hear the sirens of the police nearing the site. But he was in no hurry as he jogged through the street, remaining hidden in the bushes, he rounded the corner were a dark blue van was parked. He opened the doors on the rear end and climbed it, flopping down on the cold metal floor between his usual equipment; bombs, guns, drills, etc.

The engine started end they drove off. He pulled off his black leather gloves with his teeth and fished a pack of cigarettes out of another pocket on his loaded belt and lit it, putting it in his mouth and inhaling deeply. He sighed while blowing out the smoke, his heart rate slowed down and the adrenaline slowly left his body. Already he began to miss the excitement of the moment.

'You HAD to blow up the cars!' a nasal but female voice came form the drivers seat. A slim hand reached up to adjust the rear view mirror so that she could look at him wit cold grey eyes.

He smirked 'But if you had only seen it! The car even came of the ground due to the upward thrust of the explosion!' he called out like an excited young child with a new toy.

'Shove it somewhere the sun doesn't shine, Duo. Only you can get so excited over an explosion.' She said.

'Gees, what crawled up your ass?' He softly asked, but he knew she had heard. 'Besides, what's your problem, everything went smooth.'

She groaned 'But blow up the cars! Jesus Christ Duo, did you have to let the whole neighbourhood know you were there!'

He crawled to the front, leaning his elbows on the headrest of the two front seats. 'Someone almost escaped, I had no other option.'

With mocking eyes she looked over her shoulder at him for a short moment, her glistening eyes telling him everything already but she decided to voice it as well 'A witness almost got away huh? I'm telling you Duo, you're losing your touch.' She returned her gaze to the dark road and took the turn to the highway.

He groaned and sat back down again, continuing to smoke his cigarette. His eyes were half closed as he enjoyed the after rush created by the tobacco and the sight of the explosion burned on his retina. His peaceful ride, not only on the highway, but on his way back to earth was interrupted by vibrations coming from inside his pocket. He threw the cigarette stump away and fished his cell-phone out of the pocket, looking at the screen, seeing if he recognised the number before answering it. It was an unknown caller. Strange, not many people, only his close friends and business associates had his number. He answered the phone in silence, waiting for the caller to introduce himself.

'Is this Duo Maxwell?' He said his name as if he was reading it off a paper, obviously not someone he was familiar with.

'Maybe.' He answered suspiciously. The voice on the other side of the line laughed shortly. What kind of Mafia Godfather was calling him this time around?

'I'm Galen Massimo, maybe you have heard of me?'

Yes, he had. 'No, I haven't.' First rule in this business, never satisfy someone by telling him his name was well-known, by doing that you gave him power.

A grunt that could be interpreted as anything. 'I like to call myself the boss of this city. I'm sure you came across some of my liquor or drugs.'

'I'm not sure.' Damn well he had. To be straight he even carried a small bottle of illegal alcohol imported by Massimo and his gang right now in his breast pocket. Massimo was a powerful man, controlling the bugger part of the alcohol and drug industry, many people were eager to obey him in exchange of some of the 'Good stuff'. He also owned some hotels were he could meet gangsters from all over the world. Strange thing the police never caught him in the act.

'I have a business proposition for you. But I don't like talking over the phone. Police with their satellites you know, can track anyone, anytime.'

'You should thank me then, only a month ago I blew up one of those satellites before it could be send into space.'

The man, Massimo, laughed 'Yes, I am grateful. About my proposition, I'm having a small gathering next week, Thursday. I'm meeting some other 'friends' in the Lucifer's-suite in the Hell hotel. I'm hoping you'd be there. Twelve O'clock, free alcohol. I promise it will be worth your time.'

'It better be.' He hung up, being a professional he had no time to sit around and chat. He had to think about going to this 'gathering'. It could be a trap. Being one of the deadliest assassins in the world his head, severed from his body, would be worth up to a million dollars by now. But then again, assassin who did work for Massimo, were good enough to work for him, did make a hell of a lot money since his jobs were not easy and important. The four men he just killed were simple gangsters, almost no power at all. Massimo tended to sent people after governors, captains of the army, ministers and other deadly assassins.

'Who the hell was that!' The women in the front demanded.

'None of your business, Diz.'

'Ah, someone big huh?' She looked at him through the mirror.

'Keep your eyes on the road! You're gonna get us killed!' Wouldn't that be a laugh, assassin killed in car crash. Not an honourable way to die for someone with his profession. He mind drifted off to what Massimo had said. It was tempting and even though he knew it could be dangerous, he already knew that no matter what his twisted mind came up with, he was going. Grinning he rubbed his hands together before lighting another cigarette. This could be the job he had been dreaming of for four years now.

**So, now you have met the infamous God Of Death, in the next chapter I will introduce you to Heero, Master Of The Sword.**

**All those friendly people out there: Review!**

**Crimson Waterfall**


	2. Chapter 2

**God vs Master**

**Prologue 2**

**Master of the sword**

A veil of darkness covered the sleeping city. The streets were empty, everybody lay warm in their beds, all but one...

With no sounds of footsteps and not even the soft rustle of clothes a dark figure slipped past two bulky guards, clad in black tuxedo's, for some stupid reason wearing sunglasses. The men must be blind in the dark with those on. Easily, without making any sound, the lean body gracefully climbed over the fence and like a feline stalked towards the mansion and climbed with ease into a tall tree not far from the house he targeted. From afar he studied the locks of the doors and windows. Perfects security, the two men at the gate were unnecessary with that kind of equipment. Not a room or door could be opened in silence as it would trigger a high pitched alarm. The last thing he needed was to draw attention. But he did his homework well. Climbing to the very end of one branch reaching towards the house like a starving man he climbed over the garage top the back of the house. Light burned behind one window, the room for the guards he knew. Stealthily he crawled under the window so that he wouldn't be spotted and made his was to the back door. The same security system, but this security had one major flaw, cause by one of the inhabitants of the house.

Black clad fingers traced the outlines of the doghatch, putting a little pressure on it. No alarm was connected to it. He sat before the door, crouched, listening to any sound that might give away the presence of a guard, but all was silent behind the door. Carefully he pushed the hatch open and sneaked a peek inside. The coast was clear. Thank god the man living here had a large dog, otherwise it would even be hard for a small, flexible man like him to enter. But before long he was in and softly closed the hatch behind him. Again crouching, he scanned the hall that was connected to the living room and the kitchen, there were two other doors of which he knew led to the laundry room and a small gym. He crawled to the other side of the hall and could see two guards sitting on the stairwell, he could not go up that way. Though they were no match for him he only killed the person he was assigned to kill. He went back to the laundry room, he knew a large tube connected that room and a small room upstairs, so that the lazy bitch didn't have to go down stairs to drop of his dirty laundry.

He inspected the tube, it was smaller than the blueprint he got from his client told him, but he had no other choice. Making himself as thin as possible he wormed himself upstairs, though it crossed his mind, he was never afraid of getting stuck all his training gave him the strength, speed and flexibility of a tiger.

He ended up in what seemed like a walk in closet, which seemed a logical place for the laundry tube.

If his info was correct the soon dead man was not sleeping, but was still at work. But he was not one to take a risk. He listened, but it was quiet, no sheets rustling, no snoring nor hard breathing. Cautiously opening the door he was right, the bedroom was empty. Walking to another room, the office, connected to the bedroom he snooped around. He was not only here to destroy a man, but also important papers about the whereabouts of his employee. He checked the maps stored on bookshelves and took out a few to leave through them. He ended up finding two maps concerning his client. At last he hacked the computer and erased all the date that was stored there.

He looked up, surprised when he heard heavy footfalls coming up the stairs and the guards saluting someone. He looked at his watch, eleven O'clock, he wasn't due home till twelve! Thank god he also went a little early to make sure he could pull off the job without leaving any trace. He hid under the desk, not the best place, but he had no other option as the man was already in the bedroom, coming his way. He listened as the door opened and shut, the light was never turned on as the figure just sat down at the desk and started to type away on the computer.

He stared at the two fat legs that were just millimetres away from his body. If he moved, he would be caught, he had to get this over with. He grabbed a long dagger that was strapped to his thigh, he positioned himself so that he could aim and move out from under the desk. He let the man finish a few words before he launched forward, driving the knife into the mans fat stomach. Before he could react to the pain that shot through him the predator clamped his head over the mouth of his victim to muffle the cries he let out. Within second it was over, the body on the chair went limp and all was silent except the blood that made dripping noises as it fell on the wooden floor. He pulled the knife out and wiped it with a black cloth. He made sure he didn't step in the growing pool of blood on the floor and went downstairs, through the tube and through the doghatch. Over the garage and into the tree, never leaving a trace as he was careful not to step in grass or mud. He sprinted over the driveway and jumped over the fence, disappearing into the streets.

He looked at his watch, he was just in time for the next job. He pulled a raincoat out of the bushes and wrapped it around himself. He nodded friendly to the few people he encountered on the street as he made his way to the centre of the city that was littered with large building. Running a cloved hand through his messy hair, minding nothing but his own business he attracted no attention as made a quick turn into an alley to dump the trenchcoat. He turned to the building behind him, standing tall. He focussed on the small window on the third floor. He climbed up to the window, supporting himself on window still and bricks that stuck out of the old wall. He had to make quick work of this one.

Looking through the window he could see the bed, that was right under the window, and his target sleeping peacefully in it. Making sure he was secure he pulled a compass-like thing out of his backpack. He plastered the suction cup to the window and drew the sharp, long needle in a perfect circle around it. He pulled hard and with minimum sound the circle came loose. He secured it to his belt, if it fell it would alert the entire neighbourhood. He looked around, but he could not been seen from the street and the building on the other side of the alley had no windows on this side. Shaking his head, thinking this was just too easy he grabbed his gun and stuck it through the round hole in the glass, aiming at the head of his victim. Without giving it any second thought, and without regret, he pulled the trigger. The silencer on the gun made sure there was no loud bang so that the other inhabitants of the apartment complex would not be disturbed. The head moved from the force of the bullet penetrating the skull, but immediately the figure in the bed stopped breathing, though she had the same peaceful, sleeping, look over her face.

He quickly packed his things and left the site, in case someone DID hear.

Sundayserialkiller: Are you sure this line is secure?

MasterOfTheSword: As secure and safe as you can be while talking to me.

Sundayserialkiller: Funny guy... how did business go?

MasterOfTheSword: As usual.

Sundayserialkiller: And the files?

MasterOfTheSword: Don't be hasty. These are quiet interesting, I understand why you didn't want Spectrum to present them to the police corps today.

Sundayserialkiller: What's your point?

MasterOfTheSword: My point is 250 000 extra.

Sundayserialkiller: 250 000 dollars!

MasterOfTheSword: Yes.

Sundayserialkiller: You are crazy.

MasterOfTheSword: Maybe, but I have something you desperately want Jerry.

MasterOfTheSword: Would you rather have me calling you: mister Bishop?

Sundayserialkiller: How do you know my name?

MasterOfTheSword: Unlike the cops I don't have shit instead of a brain. Gathering information about you and your tactics I soon uncovered you, Jerry Bishop, are the only match. I will spare you on the details, I believe you catch my drift, don't you?

Now... are you ready to negotiate?

Sundayserialkiller: I guess I don't have a choice.

MasterOfTheSword: You are smarter then you look.

MasterOfTheSword: Yes, I also have your picture.

Sundayserialkiller: I'll send you the extra money as soon as you send me all the files and all the things you found out about me.

MasterOfTheSword: You just send me the money and I promise the police will never get to see these maps.

Sundayserialkiller: How can I be sure that I can trust you?

MasterOfTheSword: You can't...

Heero's fingers jerked away from the keyboard after closing the dialogue-program. His hands immediately went to the sharp dagger strapped to his ankle, hidden under his loose white pants. Turning around he saw the one who startled him was no threat and he relaxed, letting go of the dagger, he turned back to his computer and opened an innocent file, pretending that nothing was off. 'You startled me.'

'I apologise, master...' The old Japanese man went to sit on his knees and bowed for him. 'But your class is here.'

Heero cursed inwardly, lifting his head up to look at the wall clock. He was five minutes late for his class, unacceptable. He rose from the simple black pillow that lay on the floor, in front of a table. The only two pieces of 'furniture' inside the office of his Martial Art dojo.

He walked towards the man and looked down at him, before looking through the open door at his class, who was sitting on the ground, all wearing white costumes, waiting for him. Looking back at the man again he shook his head. 'I will have none of that from you.' He grabbed the old man's hand and pulled him up 'You're gonna give yourself hernia.'

The man smiled and nodded gratefully before getting back to his post.

Heero walked up to his students, standing before them he watched them bow and then rise from the padded floor.

'Master Yuy, isn't it you who told us that fortune comes to those who come early.'

Heero gave the business yuppie a crushing look. The man had been coming to his dojo for months now, but didn't even master the simplest move. Actually, none of them were any good. 'Yes. But if you're important, Fortune will wait.' Without to much pish posh he started the lesson, he did not intend of conversing anymore with his students then absolutely necessary, he was not a man of speech. Silence should rein unless you have important news to tell. He did some simple moves, kicking, hitting, using a wooden sword. The ten students of middle age copied him, but had difficulties standing in some poses, their legs would trenble or they would lose balance. Some weren't even flexible enough to raise their legs HALF as low as he did while demonstrating a kick. But then again, these people were nothing like him. Their daily lives consisted of sitting behind desks and eating fast food, a life style far from his.

Five minutes before the end of the class all heads turned to see three newcomers, walking through the door. All three of them wore black tuxedo's and had a stern, no, an emotionless look on their face as they entered the dojo.

These were not his regular customers, something was off. Heero reasoned and while walking up to the men he grabbed one of the wooden swords, just in case.

'Gentlemen?'

'We need to talk.' The middle guy said, a chubby man around the age of forty, with a mean face that showed deep lines. He supported himself on a black walking cane, the handle was gold, for as far as Heero could see, it was real. Who had come to visit him, the Mafia?

'Class dismissed.' He absentmindedly said, giving the three men a warning look, hoping that that was all it took to remind him that he was not an easy guy to get on the floor. Confidently he turned around and walked to his office, knowing that they will follow him. His students kept their eyes on them as long as they could, till the man roughly closed the door behind them.

'Just go to your homes!' The old Japanese man said 'Just some taxes guys. Go.'

'I have a proposition for you Heero.' The chubby man said and without asking sat down on the black pillow Heero had occupied an hour before. Heero walked towards the wall of his office, were over fifty Katanas rested on wooden standards.

'For you it is either Master or mister Yuy.' He grabbed one of the swords and turned around, waiting for the man to continue, no need to beat around the bush.

'You should not feel so threatened, MISTER Yuy.' Even though he said it with mock, Heero was satisfied that the man did what he was told.

'It's nothing personal, I feel threatened around my best friends.'

'You, mister Yuy, don't have any friends.'

'Now it is personal.' He growled and took a step towards him, pulling the swords a mere inch out of its sheath, but enough to show the sharp blade and to show just how he reacted to a threatening.

'Spill it or go.' He said when the silence stretched out to long for his liking.

'I have a possible job for you... but... let's do this official, shall we?'

'I don't make a habit out of talking to my clients in person.'

'I know.'

'How did you find me?' He ogled the two men, guards, he judged. He should be able to handle them, unless they had guns, then they will pose a problem.

'Hee- mister Yuy,' he grinned arrogantly, 'I rule the underworld. An interrogation here, a threatening there... No wait, I'll be honest with you. You were damn hard to track. It is only by coincidence that one of my previous victims, Kent, was a student of you.'

'I was wondering why he didn't show up anymore.'

The man laughed.

'You haven't introduced yourself.'

The looked truly shocked, no fake, no charade. Who the fuck was this guy? He quickly got himself back together and turned on a smug face 'I am the one and only Galen Massimo.' He proudly said, sure that Heero will recognise him now.

'Never heard of you.' He really didn't so he wasn't the least impressed. The only thing that really got to him was that he was able to find him. Coincidence or not, this was a serious problem. He knew he should have never started this dojo!

Massimo must have noticed his sincerity and that he wasn't really paying attention so he scraped his throat, trying to keep up his face of big and bad boss. 'Just do some research on me when I'm gone, I'm sure someone with your skills will be able to find something.'

'You were talking about a proposition?'

He smirked 'I like the way you think.'

Heero had to keep himself from rolling his eyes and waited impatiently, the urge to tap his foot on the floor while waiting was almost overwhelming.

'We shall talk tomorrow, twelve O'clock, the bewitched hour,' Massimo smirked, Heero snorted, 'I'm having a little get together. Come and I will give you all the details. This is the adress.' He reached inside his chest pocket, pulling out a blood red card. He lay it in the middle of the table, then sat back again, never taking his eyes of Heero.

From this distance Heero could not read what the black letters on the card said. Massimo must assume that he will now grab the card, to read it, but he will not give him that privilege. He tore his eyes away, curious or not. 'I will meditate on this.'

Massimo laughed, thinking it was a joke. He stood up, giving Heero one last look, still trying to show his dominance before leaving. His puppy-guards following him, looking all tough in their tuxes and sunglasses.

Heero eyed the card on the table and slowly walked up to it.

H e l l H o t e l

L u c i f e r s u i t e ( r o o m 6 6 6)

He sat down and opened his laptop. No way he was going without some information about this cocky big shot, mister Galen Massimo.

**Okay, I'm not really happy with how Hee-chans introduction turned out, but it will do, it will have to. Also, I realise I should have made Duo's intro a lot more 'explosive', but enough time for that in the following chapters, ne? **

**I'm so sorry I haven't been updating, even though I had the week off and I promised no less! I tried to write several times but never liked how things were going, so this is the best I can summon in times muse-less like these. **

**Before I forget, AGAIN, thank you for all your reviews, it is what keeps me warm in this friggin' cold weather. **

**Your truly,**

**Crimson Waterfall**


	3. Chapter 4

**God vs Master**

**Chapter 1**

**The Gathering.**

Lighting his cigarette he closed his eyes in bliss. No matter how many times people told him to get rid of the nasty habit, he couldn't. It was the perfect relaxation after an explosive night. After hearing and smelling fire and smoke he could now taste it.

People gave him disapproving looks as he 'sat' sprawled on the bench of the bus stop, his legs stretched out before him. More then once almost causing someone to trip.

But he paid no attention to the complaining pedestrians or the old woman standing next to the bench, to afraid to sit down next to him. He didn't bother, it was just the way he liked it, people should be scared of him. It gave him a feeling of power. Delicious, the one thing better then a smoke on a night like this one.

Duo just stared up ahead, at the building across the street. He had spend the last five minutes counting the floors, it took so long because he kept losing count, but now he got it. 81 floors.

At the entrance stood a bulky man in black tux with red shirt under it, he glared at the people straying a little to close to the hotel. Hell Hotel, said the large blood red neon letters hanging on the third floor. Damn the man for not giving him the number of the room. He could see the long queue at the desk in the lobby. Impatient guests wanting the key to their hellish room.

Since it was a quarter till twelve he got up and crossed the street, cars honked at him as they had to step on their brakes, coming to a dead stop with screeching tires.

He grinned and threw away the stump that was left of his cigarette. Enetering the lobby that screaming expensive with it's marmer floors and pilars and golden statues he looked around for a moment, spotting a sign that said: _Conference in room 666, 81the floor, at twelve o'clock. Galen Massimo._ 'A conference, so that's how they call it nowadays.' He mumbled softly to himself as he maid his way to the elevator, he scared everyone of with his glare for if his usual 'gangsta' outfit, black pants, black shirt, black trenchcoat, didn't do the job. Now he had the elevator all for himself. He looked at the wall of the lift, that was one giant mirror and he fixed his hair. No, he was not vain!

The elevator gave a ring as it reached it's destination, like the microwave signalling that dinner was ready. The doors opened and the first thing he saw were two more big guys in the same outfit as the one downstairs at the entrance.

'Good evening gentlemen.' He said in his most happy, mocking, tone as he strode past them.

It was just a simple, long hallway, red of course, which led to glass doors that lead to a red room.

He was way to early and coming early was so not cool, but turning back wasn't an option so with his head up high he opened the doors and strode in like he was the emperor of the entire world.

'You are early mister... uh...'

'Maxwell... but you can call me God.'

In the red room stood a long glass table with ten black leather chairs. At the head of the table, furthest (?) away from him sat an old and chubby man in a grey business suit, his greying hair was neatly combed back and he had many gold and silver rings on his fingers.

Massimo, of course.

'Massimo I assume?'

'Yes. Please, sit down.' He vaguely pointed to the chairs and then clapped in his hands. A butler came into the room through another door, carrying a drink.

'Only the finest Port, of course.' Massimo said with a big fat grin like a chesire cat.

'Of course.' Duo was starting to hate the man. He sat down and gulped the port down, surprising Mafia boss.

'If you drink slower you can better appreciate the fine taste of the port.' He said, sounding a bit angry at Duo. Agitated.

'I didn't come all the way over here to enjoy you're Port.'

'Mister Maxwell, of all the invited you live the closest to my hotel.'

Duo snorted. 'You don't know where I live.' The silence that followed his confident remark worried him. Sure he didn't know where he lived! Right?

'I've got people coming all the way from Japan.' Massimo finally said, trying his best to leave an impression.

The fact that he was trying so hard, made the man even more pathetic, but even though Massimo was not an impressive man when sharing a table with you, he was, once, the best assassin of his time. And now, the best assassins of THIS time worked for him.

Duo resisted the urge to whip his head around when he heard the glass doors open with a loud slam, shaking the fragile glass.

'Wow, you weren't lying when you said you were inviting a FEW friends.' A mocking deep voice commented, finishing with a soft, confident, laugh.

'Not all guests have arrived yet.' Galen retorted, defending himself.

Duo finally looked when the seat at the other end of the table was pulled back violently and the second arrival plopped down into it. He eyes the glass of Port, that the butler gave him, suspiciously. The redhead returned Duo's stare with a set of piercing eyes with an undefined colour, a mixture of brown, green and grey.

'Rafe.' He introduced himself.

'Duo Maxwell.' Duo nodded and turned his head. Never show interest in an assassin. It's dangerous.

Two minutes of silence later the door opened again, only soft this time and their was no greeting or comment on the amount of people sitting at the table.

He looked to the side when the chair next to his was pulled back and a lean figure, clad in red leather skirt, that reached till her knees and a tight leather jacket, came to sit next to him. Her black, sleek hair was held in a simple ponytail and she gave Duo a seductive look. The corners of her cherry red lips curling upwards in a smirk.

'Hello hello.'

'Duo, Rafe, meet an old friend of mine: Abyss.' Massimo interrupted, seeking control over what happened at the table and seeking for Abyss' attention.

She turned her head and blew a kiss in Galens direction.

At that moment the doors opened again and Duo watched as a large Indian, long black hair, deep lines in his face and simple clothing came to sit across from him giving them all a grunt as greeting.

Duo shook his head invisibly. Where these the best of the best? Funny Guy, The SM Mistress and... Duo looked at him, then at the white and black feather in his hair. He smirked.

'Wipe that smirk off or I'll cut both your cheeks from lips to ear.' The Indian threatened with a deep voice, rising from his chair.

'Don't go all Wounded Knee on me!' Duo retorted with a smirk, standing up himself.

'Gentlemen! Please! Sit down! We are here to do business!'

'Gimme a drink.' The Indian ordered as he sat down, Duo copying his actions.

The butler placed the port in front of him but the large man requested the entire bottle.

They all watched as he emptied both the glass and bottle in one giant gulp.

The next time the doors opened he heard two sets of footsteps on the soft red carpet. The first to come in his line of sight really was nice to see. A small, Asian, guy, wearing neat black slacks, a black, button-up shirt and a black (tuxedo like) jacket over it. He sat down one chair away from Wounded Knee, running a hand through his messy brown hair. That he even dared to make such a nervous looking gesture proved that he was everything BUT nervous. His blue, cold eyes, glistened with the deadly shine that every good assassin had. All of them at the table had similar looks in their eyes.

The second figure sat down next to the SM-mistress, Abyss, giving her a hungry look before taking the rest in. Strangely, he really wore a business outfit: black slacks, jacket, along with a white button-up and black tie to top it off. He smiled as he noted the long, long, platinum blond hair. He thought he was the only one.

'Well, now we just have to wait for...' Galen looked at a list in front of him 'Ace?'

Rafe, the redhead, laughed and said with a smirk. 'Ace can't make it, he called in... sick, today.'

Massimo motioned the butler, after serving his last guest a drink, to come over to him and told him to search every ally near the hotel.

'I don't want the police to find a body near the hotel of a man they already suspect.' He explained to them with a smile.

Some of them nodded in understanding while Duo was beginning to get impatient. It was half past twelve and still this didn't seem to be worth his while.

'I assume you all haven't met yet, so an introduction is at place.' He motioned to each and every one of them while saying the name he read off the list. 'Zechs Merquise, Abyss, God of...?' He looked up from the list at a smirking Duo and shook his head, like a teacher when a student misbehaved. 'Duo Maxwell,' he corrected, 'Rafe... Just Rafe, Heero Yuy,' strangely Galen looked up a said man for a moment, smiling secretively, 'Harley Tit-... Titame...' he struggled with the name and decided to keep it Harley.

'Can we get the fuck started? Or else I'm gonna need another drink.' Rafe rudely complained and then grabbed the glass away that was in front of Heero. The Asian man didn't even touch it.

Rolling his eyes the Big Boss clapped again and the butler came in. Only this time not with Port, but with papers, laying a closed map in front of all of them.

Curious as always Duo was the first to open the map. A lot of information in small letters, three pages full, between the pages lay a photo of a young man. He was obviously not aware of his picture being taken and the photo was a little blurry. It showed his backside and most of his face as he looked behind him probably searching the dog that was walking behind him.

'This man has something of me, that I want back. It is fitted with a transmitting devise, so finding it is relatively easy. Getting your hands on it however, will prove more diffucult.'

Rafe snorted and closed the map. 'Just tell me where to find this guy and you'll have him in a matter of moment.'

'You don't understand. He is a... master thief. He never sits still for too long, moving between the five houses he owns on different continents. Tracing him, even with the devise, is difficult.'

Duo stood from his chair and prepared to leave, but decided to give the man a piece of his mind. 'We are assassins, you can't just waste our time searching for stolen goods. That's what the police is for!'

Many of the other assassins agreed with him and were also on the verge of leaving. They waited for Massimo to beg them to stay and maybe explain that there was more, but all he said was: 'Believe me, this will be worth your while.'

After a while everyone sat down again, their interests sparked. They were all more then ready to earn a lot of money with an easy job.

'This is what you're after.' He held a photo of a small red box with a golden lock on it. 'In it is something of great value for both me... and the person who gets it first.' He smirked as they all leaned a bit closer to look at the picture.

'Describe it's 'value' in dollars.' Abyss demanded with an accent that sounded vaguely Russian.

'Ten million. And in the end, it will all be for one of you. Now remember, once you have it, bring it back to me and you will get you're money. Don't think you're being smart by stealing it, for then it is useless, as is your life to me.' His voice held a dangerous tone. With a snap of his fingers the butler was replaced by three guards giving each one of the assassins a small computer, no larger then a mobile phone and could detect the signal of the tracking devise. And a crisp white envelope... filled with money.

'The computer is very sophisticated. The red dot is where my precious box is.'

Duo booted it up and got a black three dimensional picture of the world blue lines separated sea from land and different countries. Currently the flashing red dot was busy crossing the Atlantic ocean, slowly, but surely.

'The tracking devise in the box is able to scan the surroundings so if you zoom in you can see that at the moment it is in a plain and you can even tell in which seat it is located.'

He zoomed in and was exited to see that up close you could indeed see everything. You had the blue outlines of the plane and the seats. Too bad it didn't have a heat detector. Humans were invisible to the devise.

Silence reined as everyone was busy playing with their new toy till Massimo made all heads turn his way as he scraped his throat.

'Whoever get's there first, wins.'

They all nodded.

Massimo waited, then smiled. 'Meaning you better get moving!'

Realisation hit them and within second the room was left empty, besides Galen, they stormed through the hall trying to be the first to reach the elevator. The shouting and sounds of footsteps stopped when they had pressed the button and were waiting in silence for the elevator to reach them. Heero was the only one who took his time, slowly walking up to them.

When the ring finally sounded it was pushing, pulling and shouting again, like they were a bunch of hungry chimps trying to get to the food first.

Duo watched his own reflection as they were all cramped together in the small elevator. He took the time to study them all. Abyss was physically the dream of every man. She had the perfect body and a pretty face, but in the position she was now in, he could see there was a gun strapped to the inside of her thighs. That tight skirt really left nothing unseen.

Rafe was tapping his foot on the floor while playing with the newly acquired devise. His red hear was slicked back and Duo now noticed the many piercings in his ear.

Wounded knee... no Harley with-the-unpronounceable-last-name looked like a rapist to him, especially with the looks he was giving the only feminine assassin among them. Among the deep lines in his face from rough life were scars from many fights and his ordinary clothing had bloodstains on it.

Then the blond guy, Zechs, with his cold icy blue eyes. He looked like a vulture, only he dared to bet he was no scavenger. The tie around his neck had been loosened and his hands were dug deep into his pockets while he was staring at the panel of shifting numbers that told them which floor they passed. 29. 28. 27. 26...

His eyes searched his last rival, looking a little lower, for he estimated the Asian at a length of 5.8 or 5.9 feet while he himself stood a good 5.11. When he finally found the man he quickly averted his eyes when he noticed Heero was staring right back at him.

The elevator ringed again and the door opened. They all pushed to get out first and also pushed away other people that were waiting to enter the elevator. They ran through the lobby and on the street. This was useless. If the target was ten feet away, running would be useful. But he was miles and miles away. They had to book a flight and do this sensible. So Duo slowed down and fished the computer out of his pocket. The box was still on the plane.

Stopping he turned back, the others were long gone, in much of a hurry but he saw the retreating black back of his small rival, slowly disappearing between the crowd. His confidence worried him.

'Strange Fellow...' He softly commented, then whistled loudly for a cab. Once inside and on his way to his apartment to grab some things he fished the folded up file out of the large pocket of his trenchcoat and read it carefully. He was one of the few who were smart enough to take the file with him. A useful advantage.

**Wow... I finally did it! I finally wrote another chapter! I'm amazing! ... well, okay, not AMAZING but at least I finally did SOMETHING!**

**It would be a great pleasure to receive reviews once again!**

**Hugs, kisses and cookies.**

**C.W.**


	4. Chapter 5

Wow, I got some really positive feedback! Almost no spelling errors, eh. I'm so proud!  
Thank you! Thank you very, very much!

God vs Master

Chapter 2

Let the games begin

Arriving at his hotel he didn't even take the time to switch on the lighting. He immediately sat down at the desk and booted up his laptop. As soon as it was ready his fingers started to fly over the keyboard in his quick search. First things first, he had to find out which plane was flying his target and where it was taking it. He hacked into the general airflight plan, showing all flights entering and leaving America. There were different slices. Showing all the flights of that day was two much, so each hour had it's own flightplan, showing all the planes that were departing or arriving in that hour and where they were going or where they came from. Doing some mathematics that were difficult for most people but easy to him he figured the plane was five and a half hours into it's flight. It was now one am, meaning that it took off between eight and nine. He clicked on the right slice and the plan opened up to him. Blue lines were those for departures, red were those of arrivals. Connecting the small computer to his laptop and laying the picture on top of each other he could see which line the dot was following. After five minutes of intense staring he was sure it was Pan Am flight 0092. With a satisfied smirk he went back to the flight planner and searched for Pan Am 0092. A short search for only five Pan Am planes left in that hour. 'Ah! Pan Am 0092 from Seattle to Johannesburg?(1)'He frowned. Johannesburg? That was in Africa, right? Shrugging and letting it go he booked a seat on the first flight from America to Johannesburg, which, unfortunately, was the day after tomorrow. He fished another small, phone like computer out of his pocket, this was his own. He pulled a chip out of it and connected it to the laptop. He smiled as a map, similar to the one of Massimo's gizmo's filled the screen. Five red dots, but not one of them was the red box.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The phone didn't even had the time to ring once for he answered it already.  
'Duo, I found out which plane it is, a Pan Am, number 0092, I'm not sure, but I think it's heading for south Africa'  
'How come you're not sure'  
'I was kicked out of the flight plan, they must have noticed someone hacking in'  
'Shit... Well, it's my best bet, thanks Diz'  
'I booked you a flight. The day after tomorrow, three pm, don't miss you're flight Duo'  
'Thanks'  
He loved her for not asking any questions, well, at least not this time. The nosy bitch. Was probably too excited to wonder. He stared at the small computer in his hand and the red dot, slowly crossing the ocean, it, indeed, seemed to be heading at least for Africa. Thing that worried him was that it would be three days later before he got there. What if this master thief was already gone by then? Bored, worried and agitated at the same time he gave the computer a good look but when he flipped it over he noticed something of which he was sure wasn't there when he got it. A small, round, sticker like thing stuck to the backside. The black colour of it blending in with the rest. Carefully he plucked it off, using his fingernails. It left some marks of glue on the computer, but at least he was finally able to get it off. It sure as hell was no sticker. Duo, being the master in technology, knew a tracking device when he saw one.  
He brought it up to his face for a closer inspection. The ultra small chip inside barely visible. 'Massimo you untrusty piece of...' He walked to the window, slamming it open in his anger, in his feeling of betrayal, but just when he was about to send it falling down the ten floors of the building. He changed his mind, he had a better idea.  
The next day was spent packing his bags. He called the airport and requested he could bring two suitcases. All his guns just didn't fit in one without crossing the allowed weight and the steel plates inside the suitcase, to prevent the scanner from seeing his weapons, didn't make it any lighter either.  
A handgun was placed in the bag he was allowed to take on board together with the small computer and a small box containing the tracer chip. He'd show that stuck up bastard that he was not one to be messed with.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Heero stared intently at the screen of his small computer, like he was trying to let it explode with his glare. The thing that caught his attention was that one of the five red dots, was already grossing the Atlantic. How could he...? Heero was sure he had booked the first flight so how?  
He looked at the other red dots, still all located in New York then back to the travelling one. 'Fuck it...'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He growled like a hungry and angry tiger as he made his way through the airport to his departure gate. He had forgotten how busy it could get. People bumped into him and mothers, pushing the kiddiechair of their children just expected everyone to get out of their way, like the red sea parted for Moses. He hated that.  
'Hey!' He glared at the retreating back of one of said moms who 'accidentally' squashed his foot. Her blond ponytail swaying behind her. He had the urge to cut it of and make her cry. He took a deep breath, shook it off and continued to plough his way through the mass.  
After a long while he finally saw the opportunity he was looking for. He fished the small box out of his pocket and took out the chip he found on the computer.  
When his opportunity was within reach he put up a friendly smile and kneeled down.  
'What a beautiful dog you have!' He said to the woman who was holding the leash of the golden retriever. 'Thank you!' The flattered woman said, smiling at him.  
He ruffled the dogs hair and then in a motion invisible to the owner, he stuck the transmitter to the collar of the dog. His mission now complete he looked at his watch and pretended to be surprised.  
'I'm sorry, I have to hurry!' And he jogged away from her, only slowing down when he was sure she could not see him anymore through the crowd.  
Arriving at the quieter part of the airport he took a deep breath again and walked past the different tax free stores taking up more space then was necessary after disposing his luggage at the check-in. He was about to whistle when something, actually someone, caught his eyes, making him cough. His assassin instinct kicked in and he managed to get out of the open way and join a queue for the.  
'Bathroom...?' He sighed, he just went to the bathroom after a forty minute wait. But that was not important now.  
He leaned back a bit so that he could see past the tax free jewellery shop. No less then twenty meter away from him, leaning against a silver, overly decorated, lantern near a bench was Wounded... uh... Harley. The man was smoking a cigarette, just as casual as you please while his eyes followed the people passing by him with a predatory look, not so casual.  
He raised his eyebrows in surprise. What a coincidence that he was here. Thought of the Indian following him crossed his mind, but he pushed them away. If he followed him, he should be walking behind him, not standing against a lantern in front of him!  
He shook his head and straightened his jacket, better not attract to much attention. People were already giving him curious stares. Blend in Duo, blend in, he told himself. Blending in with the crowd. Something Harley was not even attempting with his casual serial murderer outfit, stern face and feather.  
He was apparently not the only one smart enough to check which plane it was and where it was heading. 'You now what? It's not that urgent. I changed my mind.' He said to the person standing behind him and left the queue, who gave him a strange look. He left the line and walked as casual as possible, trying not to attract any attention. He could not risk Harley seeing him, he could follow him, since he was sure he was at least a little tiny bit smarter then the tall ugly man. A group of laughing women and men suddenly came up, taking his chance Duo slid into the group, blending in, laughing just like the rest and walked past Harley without any incident.  
'God I'm smart.' He said to himself, lighting a smoke, looking back at the oblivious Indian.

'You're ticket please?' The pretty stewardess asked outside the gate.  
'Here ya go ma'am.' He leaned a bit closer to her, over the small desk she was standing behind. He gave her his trade mark, charming grin and she smiled back, blushing slightly. 'I dun wanna make any trouble. Dun wanna be the annoying guy on board ma'am but I'm a bit 'fraid of flying and it would really... you would really help me help me out by giving me a seat next to a window.' He lied, continuing to work on her with his smile. He had no fear of flying of course, he just liked to sit next to the window and was unpleasantly surprised when he saw that his ticket was for the middle row. He just needed something to look at to keep him from becoming brain dead.  
'That's no problem at all sir, Follow me, I'll bring you to your seat.' Someone else took over the most important job behind the desk while the stewardess guided him through the gate into the plane. They walked on and on till she finally found a place at the window.  
'There you go sir. And... if someone asks... this is the seat you paid for.' She said with a wink, before leaving him behind. He smiled at her one last time and plopped down into the uncomfortable third class seat. He frowned as he saw dirty words were written on the grey small table in front of him, handing from the back of the seat in front of him.  
'Wow, hey that's a new one...' He leaned closer, reading the words. Some made him laugh. Some made him wonder how old this plane exactly was.  
A big fellow plopped down next to him but he payed him no mind, trying to read one of the words. Though he wasn't so absorbed into his task that he didn't notice the guy next to him looking at him. He looked up, ready to make some witty comment but he fell silent. It took all his willpower to keep his jaw from hitting the ground.  
'Hi...' He finally said, at the moment not really a man of words. What was there to say?  
Harley just stared at him for a few more moment before turning his attention to the very interesting back of the seat in front of him. Just... staring.  
Of all the people he had to be placed next to him! Why did he HAD to sit at the window!  
'Jesus...' he mumbled softly and turned his attention to outside. He frowned when all he saw was white. Moaning, he realised his window was right above the large wing. There was nothing else to look at but white surface and some old bolts being attacked by rust. Great...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The same stewardess as the one at the desk, with her red curly hair, now walked through the pathways of the plane, pushing her drink-cart in front of her walking into the first class section with the large, luxurious seats and a private tv for every passenger, suspended at the seat in front of them.  
She stopped and looked at the occupied seat next to the window. 'Can I offer you a glass of Champaign sir?' She asked in her sweetest voice.  
The passenger closed the book with strange foreign letter he was reading and looked up with a neutral expression. He gave her a polite smile and nodded his head.  
'Yes, thank you'  
She handed him the glass mesmerised by his amazing blue eyes and the messy brown hair made her smile.  
'If you need anything else mister uh'  
He looked up, giving her another polite smile. 'Odin Lowe. Just call me Odin'  
'Okay, if you need anything Odin, just let me know'  
'I will, thank you.' He turned his attention back to the book, ignoring her, which left her no other option then to leave.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After a twenty hour flight to Johannesburg Duo was nothing more then a mere vegetable. After the plane had landed he looked to the side. Harley remained seated till the stewardess over the intercom told them they could depart the plane. Walking behind him, not intentionally, he asked:  
'So, Wounded Knee, Howling Wolf, Darkened Moon, whatever. Just a question, are you going to kill me and steal the information on my laptop or just silently following me'  
Harley looked back for a few seconds, the stern expression never changing, though his left eye twitched a bit. 'Why would I follow you. I reckon you have no idea where you're going'  
Walking down the stairs Duo sighed as he finally had solid ground beneath his feet. He wasn't afraid of flying before but somehow now he did fear the flight back to the USA. Everyone walked towards the somewhat shabby airport, about a hundred feet away from were they had departured the plane. Duo noticed that his collegue was just wandering off, into the desert. 'Good luck!' He called after him, not able to restrain himself. He almost laughed as Harley, without looking back, flashed him the finger.  
'Yeah, won't be surprised if we're best buddies when this is all over.' He lied, looking around, taking in the dry scenery before following the mass. He fished out the computer and found the red dot at the exact same spot as when he checked seven hours ago, it seemed like it was going nowhere. He had a hard time getting his bags, one of them was 'missing' but was soon found. One of the workers had tried to steal to steal it. They apologised in vain to the now rageous Duo, who had been sitting, wasting his time for two hours. All he could think of were the other 'competitors', who were probably there already. Maybe even back on the plane, back to America to get their ten million dollars! He could almost feel a vain in his head pop.  
Look at me, top assassin happy to agree to this goose chase. He thought, making his way through the quiet airport to the other side to try and conquer one of the old, rusting, cabs to get him to Edenvale, the city lying closest to where the box now was. The cabdriver asked him something, but it didn't make sense to him. 'Uhm... English'  
'Ah! English! Yes! Where would I take you, ne'  
Duo rolled his eyes, and the poor man seemed to think he was so good at this. 'Edenvale'  
'Eden... Oh! Yes! Edenvale'  
Duo was pushed back into the seat by the force that shot the cab forward when the driver put the pedal to the metal. With a speed that could not be legal they raced over the sandy, bumpy, roads. Duo felt like a milkshake and his butt would never, ever forgive him for this cruel ride. 'Ow!' A huge bump in the road caused them to jump up and caused Duo's head to connect with the cars ceiling. Thoroughly shaken he arrived in the sandy town. The buildings were painted in white or pink/orange, the stones were cracked. In the outer rims of the city the houses were nothing more then huts made from plastic of wooden beams. Children stopped doing whatever it was they did to watch him come by, making eyecontact with him with their sad brown eyes.  
Duo sighed. He could stand the faces, he killed people in cold blood after all, without ever flinching, but that didn't mean he didn't feel sorry for the less fortunate.  
'Shall I take you to good hotel? Best of city'  
'Uhm, yes, thank you'  
The dark man flashed him a bright smile, even though his teeth were yellow. He honked at children crossing the street as he drove by.  
Duo groaned again when they hit another bump.  
'There we are. Good hotel, has beds'  
Duo got out of the car and looked at the pink, five story high building.  
The cab drove off after the driver threw his suits to the muddy ground and collecting his few dollars for the trips. Defeated, Duo just continued staring. 'The best hotel of the city...?' He shook his head.  
He jumped up as a car honked loudly and he could hear a powerful engine nearing him. Definitely not the shabby cab that had taken him here.  
Turning around he saw a jeep nearing him, briefly stopping next to him. Surprised he reckonised the red locks and the cocky features that could only belong to Rafe. He wore a typical, sand coloured safari shirt, a green cloth wrapped around his neck. He had a set of goggles on top of his head, which, if he put them on correctly, would protect his eyes from the sand flying around. With a confident smile he waved 'Another one bites the dust'. Then blasted off, leaving Duo to suffocate in, instead of bite the said dust.  
Glaring, Duo looked at his suitcases, sursing himself for bringing so much. He should have known this was to be a quick job, not one planned out well. He ripped one open and got out what he needed, hanging it on his belt or putting it in the black back pack.  
Looking around, in vain search of a fast vehicle, his eyes settled on the only thing that would even take him SOMEWHERE. Running across the street, looking, even though he should have known there would be no cars to be run over by.  
'Wait, what are you doing?' A small voice asked and he looked back to see a sick woman, staring up at him with puppy eyes, pleading him not to steal her horse. It was probably the only thing she had. He was about to take of when... 'Oh, dammit!' He cursed, nice time to grow all sympathetic! His fingers dug into his pockets and came up with the thousand dollar check Massimo had given him. Cursing again he handed it to her. 'Cash it at a bank! Okay? A bank!' He spurred the horse and even though it had looked skinny and weak it was fast as the wind. 'C'mon! C'mon! Not gonna be defeated by a redhead with an attitude!' After a ride of fifteen minutes, he could see the house where his target was staying at the horizon. He came closer and closer, only two hundred meter to go, then.  
The horse pranced as a loud explosion could be heard. Her prancing caused him to fall off, the skinny horse, now weak from the ride, fell aswell but quickly scrambled to her feet and ran off. The flames reached high up in the air and Duo could reach the smoke from his place flat on the ground. With effort he rose to his feet, spitting out the sand. He had bit the dust literally after all. He looked back, seeing the horse slowly disappear. 'Now I know why dogs are men's best friends!' He called after her. Shaking his head to get the sand out of his hair he looked at the mansion, it was still standing, the explosion didn't affect it at all and he guessed that it was a car that was blown up. He silently hoped it was Rafe's expensive jeep as he jogged his way to the house, looking around, seeing if there was any sompetition. He grabbed a gun and the computer, logging in while he continued running he saw that the red box was still located in the house. He still had a chance. He rolled over the ground, coming to a stop behind the garage, so that he was hidden from view in case one of his 'co-workers' was already in the house.  
He let the small computer in his hand do his job and found out the box was on the second floor, in a room in the left corner of the house. The heat source told him it was unguarded.  
He ducked his head when another explosion sounded. When the thundering was over he looked around the corner to find all windows in the house broken and the first floor was on fire. The white, wooden outside of the house was slowly blackening. Climbing up on the garage he was able to jump into the house onto the correct floor through one of the broken windows. Looking around, trying to orientate he figured it was the second door left, past the stairway. He wiped some sweat of his brow. Standing in front of the door he took one deep breath, regretting it as he now had to fight the urge to cough as thick smoke made it's way to his lungs. 3...2...1... He took a few steps back and threw his entire body weight against the door, it cracked and then slowly fell forward. With a loud bang it landed on the floor, causing dust to fly up.  
At the exact same time he busted down the door, someone came in through the window, feet first. And landed on the dusty floor in a crouching position.  
The two locked eyes but the sound of a car, busting through the metal garage door broke them apart. They moved towards the window to see a black Sedan drive off. At the other side of the building Duo saw Rafe running towards his jeep. He cursed himself, if he hadn't been in such a hurry to get to this room, which was empty, he could have planted a bomb. Just as Rafe got in a black crossbike drove past him at high speed, persuiting the black Sedan. Seeing the black, silky hair and the slim legs clad in a leather suit, he guessed it was Abyss. A shotgun was strapped to her back and he smiled as the sentence: 'With love from Russia...' popped up in his head. Duo looked to the side, at the smaller young man, standing at the window, watching as their target vanished at the horizon.  
'Aren't ya gonna follow them?' He asked, ready to jump out of the window himself.  
Heero shook his head. 'It's too late now. Besides, nothing here rides'  
'What if they catch him?' He was more asking himself, but Heero answered none the less.  
'That would mean their decision, their instinct, is better then mine. Making them a better assassin and the honourable winner of this... game'  
He laughed 'Honourable? What honour does a killer have! If you think this is such a stupid game, then why do you play'  
'Because I need the money'  
'If you need the money, wy aren't ya chasing him?' Duo smiled, really thinking he had the man now.  
'Like I said, it's too late.' With that he jumped out of the window, landing on his feet without wincing. Wanting to know more Duo jumped after him and came to walk beside him. In case Heero wasn't as approachable as he looked he fingered the small revolver in his pocket, ready to shoot whenever Heero made any suspicious moves.  
'Don't ya have a car? How'd you get here in the first place?' He asked, not really being friendly, but having a car he could steal would come in handy. His mind reeled, trying to find out where the bastard, with the box, was heading. The airport was the other way. 'Who's car you think got blown up'  
Duo smiled, the smile broadened when he saw his transportation happily eating grass, pretending not to be the fainthearted pussy she was moments ago.  
He looked to the side to find Heero watching a small computer, not the one they all got from Massimo, but something identical. He was about to lean over to take a better look when Heero abruptly put it back into his pocket.  
Innocently Duo raised his hands in the air and jogged towards the horse, leaving Heero behind.  
'I'd give you a ride...' He said while mounting the horse, 'But I can only please one person a day. Today... is not your day.' He said with a grin and made the horse turn around, ready to go back to the city. He had the vain hope his suitcases would still be there. He turned around with a broad smirk, seeing Heero stand there, seemingly helpless. 'Tomorrow isn't looking good either!'

(1) like many other cities in South-Africa it's a Dutch name and I don't know 'if' and if so: 'how' to translate it. Yes, I'm Dutch, get over it.

This must be my longest chapter ever... Well, at least it's long!  
Wow, this is really going good, a chapter for God vs Master and a chapter for Unsinkable! Now, in the beginning when I still updated every day (ah, those good ol' days) this would be nothing. But nowadays I'm grateful when I'm even able to stomp ONE chapter out.  
Oh, I also updated White Death, but I'm not to pleased with it.  
In either case, I hope you enjoyed this one and take you're time to review on it. I really want to know what the lots of you think about my 'mind-swirls'

Huggles,

Crimson Waterfall

PS: Recently I've been using a beta (yes, the wonders haven't left the world yet) and my spelling improved, but... well, For my birthday I got a new computer (yay!) and know the spelling check (beta) isn't working... Everything has it's downside I guess.  
Just tell me how bad it was... but... in the mean time, be nice, please? 


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